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Linux Kernel Programming - Second Edition
Linux Kernel Programming - Second Edition

Linux Kernel Programming: A comprehensive and practical guide to kernel internals, writing modules, and kernel synchronization, Second Edition

By Kaiwan N. Billimoria
€14.99 per month
Book Feb 2024 826 pages 2nd Edition
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€37.99
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eBook
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€37.99
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Product Details


Publication date : Feb 29, 2024
Length 826 pages
Edition : 2nd Edition
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781803232225
Vendor :
Linux Foundation

Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Norway

Standard 10 - 13 business days

€11.95

Premium 3 - 6 business days

€16.95
(Includes tracking information)
Table of content icon View table of contents Preview book icon Preview Book

Linux Kernel Programming - Second Edition

Linux Kernel Programming, Second Edition: A practical guide to kernel internals, writing kernel modules, and synchronization

Welcome to Packt Early Access. We’re giving you an exclusive preview of this book before it goes on sale. It can take many months to write a book, but our authors have cutting-edge information to share with you today. Early Access gives you an insight into the latest developments by making chapter drafts available. The chapters may be a little rough around the edges right now, but our authors will update them over time.

You can dip in and out of this book or follow along from start to finish; Early Access is designed to be flexible. We hope you enjoy getting to know more about the process of writing a Packt book.

  1. Chapter 1: Kernel Workspace Setup
  2. Chapter 2: Building the 5.x Linux Kernel from Source - Part 1
  3. Chapter 3: Building the 5.x Linux Kernel from Source - Part 2
  4. Chapter 4: Writing Your First Kernel Module - LKMs Part 1
  5. Chapter...

Kernel workspace setup

To get the most out of this book, it is very important that you first set up the workspace environment that we will be using throughout the book. This chapter will teach you exactly how to do this and get started.

Keeping size constraints in mind, the full and enhanced content of this chapter can be found within this book’s GitHub repository, here: http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9781803232225_Online_Chapter.pdf. I request that you download and read it in full. What follows here is an introduction to this first chapter of ours. Thanks!

In this chapter, we will install a recent Linux distribution (or “distro”) as a Virtual Machine (VM), and set it up to include all the required software packages. We will also clone this book’s code via its GitHub repository. Furthermore, this chapter also introduces a few useful projects that will help you along this exciting journey into the Linux kernel.

...

Technical requirements

You will need a modern and preferably powerful desktop PC or laptop. Ubuntu Desktop specifies some recommended minimum system requirements for the installation and usage of the distribution here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Installation/SystemRequirements. I would definitely suggest you go with a system well beyond the minimum recommendations – as powerful a system as you can afford to use. This is because performing tasks such as building a Linux kernel from source is a very memory- and CPU-intensive process. It should be pretty obvious that the more RAM, CPU power, and disk space the host system has, the better!

Like any seasoned kernel developer, I would say that working on a native Linux system is best. However, for this book, we cannot assume that you will always have a dedicated native Linux box available to you. So, we shall assume that you are working on a Linux guest. Working within a guest VM also adds an additional layer of isolation...

Cloning this book’s code repository

The complete source code for this book is freely available on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Linux-Kernel-Programming_2E. You can clone and work on it by cloning the git tree, like so:

git clone https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Linux-Kernel-Programming_2E

The source code is organized chapter-wise. Each chapter is represented as a directory – for example, ch1/ has the source code for this chapter. The root of the source tree has some code that is common to all chapters, such as the convenient.h and klib.c source files, among others.

For efficient code browsing, I would strongly recommend that you always index the code base(s) with ctags and/or cscope. For example, to set up the ctags index on a source tree, just cd to the root of the source tree and type ctags -R. (If you haven’t already, please invest the time in learning code browsing tools like cscope and ctags.)

Unless noted otherwise...

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Key benefits

  • Discover how to write Linux kernel and module code for real-world products
  • Implement industry-grade techniques in real-world scenarios for fast, efficient memory allocation and data synchronization
  • Understand and exploit kernel architecture, CPU scheduling, and kernel synchronization techniques

Description

The 2nd Edition of Linux Kernel Programming is an updated, comprehensive guide for new programmers to the Linux kernel. This book uses the recent 6.1 Long-Term Support (LTS) Linux kernel series, which will be maintained until Dec 2026, and also delves into its many new features. Further, the Civil Infrastructure Project has pledged to maintain and support this 6.1 Super LTS (SLTS) kernel right until August 2033, keeping this book valid for years to come! You’ll begin this exciting journey by learning how to build the kernel from source. In a step by step manner, you will then learn how to write your first kernel module by leveraging the kernel’s powerful Loadable Kernel Module (LKM) framework. With this foundation, you will delve into key kernel internals topics including Linux kernel architecture, memory management, and CPU (task) scheduling. You’ll finish with understanding the deep issues of concurrency, and gain insight into how they can be addressed with various synchronization/locking technologies (e.g., mutexes, spinlocks, atomic/refcount operators, rw-spinlocks and even lock-free technologies such as per-CPU and RCU). By the end of this book, you’ll have a much better understanding of the fundamentals of writing the Linux kernel and kernel module code that can straight away be used in real-world projects and products.

What you will learn

Configure and build the 6.1 LTS kernel from source Write high-quality modular kernel code (LKM framework) for 6.x kernels Explore modern Linux kernel architecture Get to grips with key internals details regarding memory management within the kernel Understand and work with various dynamic kernel memory alloc/dealloc APIs Discover key internals aspects regarding CPU scheduling within the kernel, including cgroups v2 Gain a deeper understanding of kernel concurrency issues Learn how to work with key kernel synchronization primitives

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Product feature icon Unlimited ad-free access to the largest independent learning library in tech. Access this title and thousands more!
Product feature icon 50+ new titles added per month, including many first-to-market concepts and exclusive early access to books as they are being written.
Product feature icon Innovative learning tools, including AI book assistants, code context explainers, and text-to-speech.
Product feature icon Thousands of reference materials covering every tech concept you need to stay up to date.
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Product Details


Publication date : Feb 29, 2024
Length 826 pages
Edition : 2nd Edition
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781803232225
Vendor :
Linux Foundation

Estimated delivery fee Deliver to Norway

Standard 10 - 13 business days

€11.95

Premium 3 - 6 business days

€16.95
(Includes tracking information)

Table of Contents

16 Chapters
Preface Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
1. Linux Kernel Programming – A Quick Introduction Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
2. Building the 6.x Linux Kernel from Source – Part 1 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
3. Building the 6.x Linux Kernel from Source – Part 2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
4. Writing Your First Kernel Module – Part 1 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
5. Writing Your First Kernel Module – Part 2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
6. Kernel Internals Essentials – Processes and Threads Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
7. Memory Management Internals – Essentials Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
8. Kernel Memory Allocation for Module Authors – Part 1 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
9. Kernel Memory Allocation for Module Authors – Part 2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
10. The CPU Scheduler – Part 1 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
11. The CPU Scheduler – Part 2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
12. Kernel Synchronization – Part 1 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
13. Kernel Synchronization – Part 2 Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
14. Other Books You May Enjoy Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
15. Index Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

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